"I'm a senior," Piriz said. I'm just gonna go back home ... go back to school and graduate."

Emily said she and Jena Irene might eventually move to Hollywood together to really give this singing thing a shot, but she had planned to go to college before and the "alternate universe" of American Idol won't necessarily change that.

"You have two things planned out in your life," she said. "You're going to go to college or be on TV and be a rock star."

Piriz won't miss the early wake-up calls for the show, but "I'm going to miss everything," she said, adding:

"It's all fun. It's all been an experience of a lifetime. I'm never going to get this experience again; I'm never going to be with these people. I'm here every day working with these people and that's not gonna happen again."